SC rules watching, downloading child porn offence under POCSO, IT Act

THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK

New Delhi, Sept 23: The Supreme Court, in a significant judgment on Monday, ruled that both watching and downloading child pornography are criminal offences under the POCSO Act and the Information Technology law.

The Supreme Court recommended that Parliament amend the law to replace the term ‘child pornography’ with “child sexually abusive and exploitative material” and advised courts to avoid using the term ‘child pornography.’

A bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra reversed the Madras High Court’s ruling, which had stated that simply downloading and watching child pornography was not an offence under the POCSO Act and the IT Act.

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“We have said about lingering impact of child pornography on victimisation and abuse of children and on role to report an offence, including role of society and stakeholders,” the bench stated.

“We have suggested to Parliament to bring an amendment to POCSO… so that definition of child pornography can be referred to as ‘child sexually abusive and exploitative material’. We have suggested an Ordinance can be brought in,” added the bench.

The Supreme Court issued its ruling in response to a petition challenging the Madras High Court’s decision.

On January 11, the criminal case against a 28-year-old man was dismissed by the Madras High Court for allegedly downloading child pornography onto his smartphone.